Collecting Carl Czerny

[Ferruccio]

This was his view:-
"It would be difficult to find a failure of imagination greater than that of Czerny."

If you have been infested with the Schumann virus, you will struggle to appreciate Czerny. Schumann lovers are a bit like those that have been assimilated by the Borg and are incapable of thinking outside of the collective .

Schumann was almost a worse critic than he was composer and it is beyond belief that he should accuse another of a failure of imagination, when that expression is the perfect description of his own bland output.

Test the Czerny Variations on a Theme By Haydn as a partial cure to your Schumannitis. This is fun, which Schumann and his horrific restrained romanticism would not have been capable of.

Thal

Poor Robert ...

[Timtin]

I've been tested positive for terminal Schumannitis, and will
therefore die happy!

Arthur Loesser, the American pianist and writer, also put the
knife in, and described Czerny's music as "without depth,
intensity, or wit, but always smooth and pretty and rather
ear-tickling when played fast ... endless variety of patterns
and endless monotony of import."

[parag]

I quite like his nonet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV2U3z1tnGs

and his 6th and 9th piano sonatas (both huge)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8zG_208LmM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GSV1neype4

Parag

[remy]

Since we're quoting, here's one from Doremi site, "...hidden in his extraordinary output (well over 1000 works, even without counting the etudes!) lie dozens of glorious masterworks. These display a consistent perfection of craft, a freshness of invention and an engaging sincerity that is remarkable. The music surprises us constantly with unexpected little original touches, some elegant, others quirky - a secret reward for those who listen carefully."

The thing I love about Czerny's music is that it warms my heart, delights my spirit, and makes me smile.

Let's start with this exquisite little study from Op.755 Melodious Etudes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s767JvrAyEc

My favorite Sonatas are the Nos. 10, 3, 4, 1, 8, and 9. Here's No.10 in Bb major:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9oup2HZ2-s

and No.3 in f minor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB5bj71mQAI

The wonderful Grande Sonate Brillant for Piano 4 Hands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix9JdlnGTQ0

Variations on a Beloved Viennese Waltz By Schubert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCm_sX4VwxU

The magnificent Grande Serenade Concertante for Clarinet, French Horn, Cello, and Piano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcLurK3a59k

Concerto for Piano 4 Hands:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SSbyfkFnF8


jeremy

[HullandHellandHalifax]

This was his view:-
"It would be difficult to find a failure of imagination greater than that of Czerny."

If you have been infested with the Schumann virus, you will struggle to appreciate Czerny. Schumann lovers are a bit like those that have been assimilated by the Borg and are incapable of thinking outside of the collective .

Schumann was almost a worse critic than he was composer and it is beyond belief that he should accuse another of a failure of imagination, when that expression is the perfect description of his own bland output.

Test the Czerny Variations on a Theme By Haydn as a partial cure to your Schumannitis. This is fun, which Schumann and his horrific restrained romanticism would not have been capable of.

Thal

It is often said that a critic tells you more about himself than that which he is criticising and in this case I am with Thal and the others, after all who would or should believe the ravings of a madman. Czerny was always a consumate craftsman and to his credit taught Liszt and we all know how he turned out. Schumann was no fan of Liszt so why should he like Czerny. i am no fan of Schumann...long live Czerny!!
regards
Brian

[Paul]

One problem with Czerny imo is, that he perhaps wrote most of his piano output for teaching purposes or for easily earning money with operatic fantasies and variations. The more serious composer may be found in his chamber music.

And btw LONG LIVE SCHUMANN !!

Best

Paul (just listening to the Nocturnes-CD with Oehmichen playing)

[Timtin]

Imho, Czerny was a great musical craftsman, whereas Schumann was a great musical artist.

John Field reported on Czerny's veritable "composition factory" upon visiting his teaching studio in Vienna.
Czerny would sit at a giant table together with his student assistants and have them plug in predetermined,
formulaic chord progressions and melodic patterns as fast as they could move their pens (which, having
suffered through their teacher's School of Velocity, must have indeed been fast), in order to satisfy the
thriving amateur market and fatten his pocketbook.

[thalbergmad]

One problem with Czerny imo is, that he perhaps wrote most of his piano output for teaching purposes or for easily earning money with operatic fantasies and variations. The more serious composer may be found in his chamber music.

Czerny, Herz and Hunten probably sold more sheet music in the 1st half of the 19th century than Schumann has since. Herz admitted he courted popular taste and no doubt his success was offensive to Schumann and his lofty ideals.

If Schumann was anything he was a "serious" composer and there lay my problem with him. In fact, he was so serious as to leave me in a state of depression whenever I have the misfortune to listen to any of his output. Painting a fence is more enjoyable.

Amongst his crimes against music, his greatest was his infestation of his beloved Clara, who before meeting him was happily playing, Liszt, Thalberg & Czerny and ever premiered the Henselt Concerto. Regretfully, once she had been polluted with the Schumann virus, she spread the disease over Europe quicker than the Black Death.

Thal

[Timtin]

Schumann too serious? What about his Davidsbündlertänze Op6, Carnaval Op9, and his
Humoreske Op20? 'Mit humor' was quite a common marking in Schumann's compositions.
Long live Schumann!!!

No offence meant to any of our German members but there is an old joke about the shortest books in the world and the German book was their Book of Humour. perhaps Schumann had a totally different idea of humour which at best is slapstick totally without subtlety and humour. The only Schumann I can enjoy is that composed for no particular reason when indeed he wrote some good stuff, his "programme " music is laid on with a trowel and not for me.
Incidentally I believe that the meaning of the name Humoreske has nothing to do with humour and Carnaval has nothing to do with carnival as we know it, Carnaval is the period of heavy over-indulgence before the period of Lent begins, which suits the music perfectly of course. To use humour in the 18th century sense means that the piece displays whimsy, another way of saying that the element of improvisation should be present, humoursome means peevish and hard to please, so be careful when applying 20th century concepts on 18th century terms.
Brian

[Timtin]

Returning to the subject of Czerny, this extract from an article by Iwo and Pamela Zaluski is quite interesting :-

Czerny's only real aim lay in supplying an insatiable demand for attractive yet undemanding pieces for consumption in the Biedermeier home, technical exercises and arrangements of the big hits of the day -- the populist term being apt in this case, since Czerny had become an unashamed purveyor of popular culture.
Czerny himself divided his music into four distinct categories. Category one consisted of what he called serious works, which included eleven piano sonatas very much in the Beethoven-Schubert vein. These were written with lip service to high art in mind, for they were not good sellers. The word 'sonata' had assumed a high-brow connotation not in keeping with the easy-listening ethos of Biedermeier leisure, and had gone out of fashion. Only by calling sonatas fantasias -- as Schubert was forced to do -- could a sonata gain any popular appeal; which is why some of Czerny's examples were called Fantaisie enforme de sonate.
The second category, by far the largest, covers his brilliant bravura variations and concert pieces, many for piano duet. This section, as described by Field, is Czerny's essential Biedermeier mass-production output, music of its time and written within the technical abilities of talented amateurs.
The third category consists of the exercises, piano methods and easy pieces for beginners and the less able.The last category covers piano arrangements of operatic arias, symphonies (including those of Beethoven and Mozart), and simplifications, also for home consumption.